Chapter Fifteen: A Parting Gift

That person hesitated for a moment before saying, "On this continent where you and I live, perhaps there are some loose cultivators who fancifully try to pursue the demonic path, but they only dare to sneak around in secret, terrified of being discovered. They never amount to anything; that's not truly what one calls a demonic cultivator. You're too young—it's hard to explain these things to you. Just think of them as monsters and demons."

Hongjian clicked her tongue in astonishment. In the darkness, the endless sea churned with towering black waves, as if at any moment a swell might crash onto the rocky shore and, as the waters parted, reveal a band of fiends emerging from their midst.

With such images in mind, she became very anxious for her own safety and hurriedly asked, "Will they come from the sea to our side?"

The man's lips curled into a strange smile. "So, it’s true that Dan Cliff Sect tells you nothing. At the far east of the Endless Sea, there is a barrier everyone calls the ‘Heavenly Veil.’ It divides the sea into two, and not even your Nascent Soul Elder, Jin Donglou, could break through it to reach the other continent."

"Then that's like two worlds, isn't it? We mind our business, they mind theirs." Hongjian heaved a sigh of relief.

The man seemed in a better mood; he smiled and said, "Enough, no more idle talk. A little girl like you knows nothing—there’s no use in saying more. All you need to remember is that because of the Heavenly Veil, the depths of the Endless Sea follow their own laws, energy is chaotic, and if you value your life, don’t venture there recklessly, even when you grow strong someday."

With that, he rummaged in his robes and pulled out a fist-sized object, handing it to Hongjian. "Here, since we’ve met, take this little thing as a keepsake."

Curious, Hongjian accepted it. It was a pitch-black conch shell, heavy in her palm—she hadn’t played with such trinkets in years. This mysterious elder might have seemed mercurial, but for some reason, after the initial nervousness of their first meeting, Hongjian had found his company strangely relaxing. Now, she pouted and said, "You really do take me for a child."

He snorted. "If I meant it as a toy, I could just pick up a bigger one from the sea. Try channeling your spiritual energy into it."

Suddenly realizing what it was, Hongjian’s heart leapt with excitement. Without another word, she activated her spiritual energy.

Instantly, the strange conch responded. She felt her energy pouring out like water, being drained much faster than with the ‘Water Condensing Technique’—almost matching the speed of the ‘Myriad Transformations Technique.’ This was undoubtedly a magical tool, but aside from absorbing her energy, it did nothing else. Turning it over in her hands, bewildered, her inexperience made the man burst out laughing.

Hongjian blinked her wide, inquisitive eyes, looking at him imploringly. After all, the only magical tool she’d ever seen was the Cloud-Gathering Boat that could lengthen with the wind in Qu Changhe’s hands, and this conch seemed to do nothing at all.

The man, still amused, explained, "That’s as it should be. This ‘Blessed Frontier’ isn’t of much use—its only function is to hide you from the spiritual senses of high-level cultivators. You seem quite bold, so if you ever decide on any mischief, use it, and don’t do anything too obvious."

Hongjian was left speechless—so that was the purpose of this tool. Forgetting to defend herself against the accusation of potential mischief, she asked curiously, "Does it work against Foundation Establishment cultivators?"

He grunted dismissively, making it clear that such a question was beneath him. Hongjian, realizing her foolishness, forced a smile and pressed on, "What about Core Formation, then?"

He nodded slightly. "Be careful. If you run into a Core Formation cultivator, it won’t help if you’re too close. At a distance, it depends on your luck. Against late-stage Core Formation, your chances of escaping notice are slim."

Hongjian gave a startled "Ah" and ventured, "Nascent Soul?"

The man chuckled. "You’re just a little Qi Refining disciple—are you planning to tangle with Nascent Soul elders, too? Against them, you’ll almost certainly be found, but since it’s called the ‘Blessed Frontier,’ there’s always a chance you might slip by if fortune favors you."

Relieved to have learned the tool’s use, Hongjian resolved never to use it lightly. She had no desire to provoke those far beyond her cultivation. By now, her spiritual energy was nearly spent, so she put the ‘Blessed Frontier’ away with care, rose, and offered the mysterious man a deep bow.

But she’d barely started to thank him when he raised a hand to cut her off. "You’ve kept me company and eased my boredom these nights—it’s not nothing. We’ve met, and now let’s consider this the end of it."

He spoke crisply, then stood, his eyes, shadowed beneath his hat brim, fixing her with a lingering look. His lips moved, leaving her with a final, cryptic message: "Luck that comes for no reason may cost you your life. Take care of yourself." With that, he turned and walked straight into the Endless Sea.

By now, the moon had risen above the waves. This time, Hongjian watched carefully as, the moment he entered the water, a dense black mist surged around his feet, almost tangible as it parted the sea from him. As the tide receded, he drifted away atop a wave, moving with a freedom and grace as if he were part of the tide itself.

Standing on the reef, Hongjian watched the tiny black speck recede farther and farther. Though she knew he would not look back, she still raised her arm and waved vigorously until the figure vanished from sight. Only then did she sit down, her thoughts tangled. "I don’t even know the elder’s name," she thought.

She had planned to practice cultivation afterward, but couldn’t calm her mind and finally decided to abandon her training and rest early.

Ever since Hongjian had noticed that Yao Zhen was often absent from her quarters at night, whenever she returned late, she would unconsciously slow her footsteps and listen outside Yao Zhen’s door. As expected, tonight Yao Zhen was gone again—just as she’d hinted, she must have had her own adventure.

Tomorrow, she would meet the legendary Nascent Soul elders—two at once. Perhaps it was anticipation and excitement, but Hongjian tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Only after an unknown length of time did she finally drift into a fitful slumber.

In that half-dreaming state, she fell into a nightmare—a chaotic, swiftly shifting sequence of horrors. One moment she was trapped in a sea of fire; the next, she was in the midst of a massacre, unable to tell who was the killer and who the victim, only that blood and flesh flew in all directions. Worst of all, her younger brother Fang Zheng, whose hand she had been holding, suddenly disappeared.

Drenched in sweat, she was ensnared in a nightmare of terror and despair, running endlessly to find her brother, only to be confronted by an endless tide of black water. Within it were monsters with human faces and beastly bodies, opening their bloody maws to devour her.

Hongjian cried out and awoke with a start. It took her a long moment to realize none of it had really happened. Her heart was pounding violently, and for some reason, the spiritual energy within her was surging wildly according to the method the mysterious man had taught her.

She steadied her nerves. She hadn’t slept long, and now she was even less able to rest. Lying there, her eyes wide open, she stared blankly at the darkness above.